Systems and methods for electronic device point-of-sale activation

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to systems and methods of activating an electronic device at a point-of-sale (POS). The device may be identified by an indicia and activation may occur following purchase of the device. The method may include the steps of receiving at a central processor from the POS the indicia identifying the device purchased at the POS; enabling by the central processor a feature or functionality of the device or use of the device; and conveying to the device information material to the feature, functionality, or use. The system may include a central processor that activates the device. The central processor may include various interfaces with the POS, provider, and device, as well as a database with records related to the device and an activation processor for determining if activation is appropriate, activating the device, and sending information material to the feature, functionality, or use to the device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part application from U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/778,338, filed on Feb. 17, 2004 which reliesupon U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/519,629 filed on Nov.14, 2003, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to activating electronicdevices at a point-of-sale (POS). Specifically, the present invention isdirected to activating an electronic device at a POS following thepurchase of the electronic device, wherein all information necessary forsuch activation is provided at the point-of-sale and the customerreceives a communication with additional material information after thepurchase and activation.

Electronic devices—such as mobile communications devices, personaldigital assistances (PDAs), music players (for example, mp3 players)—may be sold by various retail merchants. Many of these electronicdevices are inactive or unusable until they are “activated” by someparty. The party activating the electronic device may be the merchant, aprovider of goods or services associated with the electronic device (forexample, in the case of a mobile telephone, a telecommunicationscarrier), or a party that maintains an account associated with theelectronic device (for example, in the case of a satellite radio,Sirius/XM).

Activation generally requires at least two (2) steps: first acommunication between the POS and the party activating the electronicdevice identifying the communication device, and second a communicationbetween the user of the device and the associated provider of goods orservices or account provider. The first step is generally anidentification of the electronic device, while the second step typicallyinvolves the collection of various data from the user. The merchant andthe provider of goods or services or account provider typically relyupon existing infrastructure to support such activation.

Accordingly, such activation process can be time consuming andinconvenient. Therefore, there is a need to provide an activationprocess for electronic devices that is secure, theft-resistant, andincorporates all activation steps and processes into a singletransaction. Additionally, there is a need for an activation processthat is convenient to a user of an electronic device, wherein anyidentification information of the user is collected at the time of sale,and no additional communications with any other party are necessary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the invention may include a method of activating anelectronic device at a point-of-sale, the electronic device identifiedby a unique indicia and the activation occurring following a purchase ofthe electronic device in a purchase transaction, the method comprising:receiving at a central processor from the point-of-sale the indiciaidentifying the electronic device purchased at the point-of-sale;enabling, by the central processor, a feature of the electronic device,a functionality of the electronic device, or use of the electronicdevice; conveying, from the central processor to the electronic device:an activation confirmation; and information material to the feature,functionality, or use of the electronic device.

Other aspects of the invention may include a method of activating anelectronic device at a point-of-sale, the electronic device identifiedby a unique indicia and the activation occurring following a purchase ofthe electronic device in a purchase transaction, the method facilitatedbetween a point-of-sale, a central processor, and a provider of goods orservices, the method comprising: receiving at a central processor fromthe point-of-sale the indicia identifying the electronic devicepurchased at the point-of-sale and information sufficient to identifythe point-of-sale; determining, by the central processor: whether theindicia is valid and identifies an non-activated electronic device;whether the point-of-sale is authorized to request activation of theelectronic device; upon a positive determination that the indicia isvalid and the point-of-sale is authorized, communicating with theprovider in order to enable a feature of the electronic device, afunctionality of the electronic device, or use of the electronic device;conveying to the electronic device: an activation confirmation; andinformation material to the feature, functionality, or use of theelectronic device.

Other aspects of the invention may include a central processor foractivating an electronic device at a point-of-sale, the electronicdevice identified by a unique indicia and the activation occurringfollowing a purchase of the electronic device from at the point-of-sale,the central processor comprising: a point-of-sale communicationinterface that provides selectable communication between the centralprocessor and the point-of-sale, the point-of-sale interface configuredto receive from the point-of-sale: the indicia identifying theelectronic device; and information sufficient to identify thepoint-of-sale; a provider communication interface that providesselectable communication between the central processor and the providerof goods or services, the provider interface configured to transactcommunication with the provider regarding a status of the electronicdevice; a electronic device communication interface that providesselectable communication between the central processor and theelectronic device, the electronic device interface configured to send tothe electronic device, following activation of the electronic device,information material to the electronic device; a database comprising arecord for each electronic device, the record comprising: the indiciaidentifying the electronic device; a status of the electronic device;information sufficient to identify any point-of-sales that areauthorized to request activation of the electronic device; andinformation sufficient to identify the provider associated with theelectronic device; and an activation processor configured to: determinewhether the indicia is valid and identifies an electronic device with aninactive status; determine whether the point-of-sale sending theactivation request is authorized to request activation of the electronicdevice; determine the provider associated with the electronic device andenable communication with the provider regarding the status of theelectronic device; convey to the electronic device information materialto a feature, functionality, or use of the electronic device.

These and other aspects will become apparent from the followingdescription of the invention taken in conjunction with the followingdrawings, although variations and modifications may be effected withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The present invention can be more fully understood by reading thefollowing detailed description together with the accompanying drawings,in which like reference indicators are used to designate like elements.The accompanying figures depict certain illustrative embodiments and mayaid in understanding the following detailed description. Before anyembodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and the arrangements of components set forth inthe following description or illustrated in the drawings. Theembodiments depicted are to be understood as exemplary and in no waylimiting of the overall scope of the invention. Also, it is to beunderstood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for thepurpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. Thedetailed description will make reference to the following figures, inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a method of activating an electronic device at a POSin accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method of activating an electronic device at a POSin accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method of activating an electronic device at a POSin accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a system used to activate an electronic device at aPOS in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a central processor used to activate an electronicdevice at a POS in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary database records used to activate anelectronic device at a POS in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a representation of a merchant-location-terminalhierarchy that may be incorporated into some embodiments of the presentinvention.

Before any embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is tobe understood that the present invention is not limited in itsapplication to the details of construction and the arrangements ofcomponents set forth in the following description or illustrated in thedrawings. The present invention is capable of other embodiments and ofbeing practiced or being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to beunderstood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for thepurpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The matters exemplified in this description are provided to assist in acomprehensive understanding of various exemplary embodiments disclosedwith reference to the accompanying figures. Accordingly, those ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes andmodifications of the exemplary embodiments described herein can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention.Descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted forclarity and conciseness. Moreover, as used herein, the singular may beinterpreted in the plural, and alternately, any term in the plural maybe interpreted to be in the singular. Reference figures preceded with“S” (e.g., S100) indicates a step.

With reference to FIG. 1, a method 10 for activating an electronicdevice an accordance with some embodiments of the invention will now bediscussed. In general, a method may comprise the selection of anelectronic device by a customer, and the customer bringing theelectronic device to a POS at S100; information needed to active thedevice and/or open a necessary or associated account may be collected atthe POS at S110; the information collected in S110 may be sent to theparty activating the electronic device at S120; information material tothe electronic device may be sent to the electronic device from at stepS130, and the device may be activated and ready for use at S140.

Note that the POS may be any type of device or location where anelectronic purchase transaction occurs. For example, the POS in S100 maybe a typical POS device—such as a terminal or register, a merchant, amerchant location, a retail location associated with a specific providerof goods or services, a kiosk, or a vending machine. The POS may beconfigured with a reading mechanism for reading a printed or encodedindicia from the electronic device or its packaging. Alternatively or inaddition, the POS may be configured for manual entry of the indicia. Incases of online or telephone purchases, the POS may be considered to bethe electronic device which transacts that actual sale of the electronicdevice. As used herein, the term “location” does not necessarily referto a unique geographic location. It is, instead, a way of describing aparticular group of POSs that are typically, but not necessarily,located in a particular geographic location (e.g., a merchant store).

In general, each electronic device may be identified by a uniqueindicia. This indicia may be located on the electronic device itself, oron packaging of the electronic device. The indicia may be any alpha,numeric, or alphanumeric series of numbers and/or letters, or may be aseries of symbols or characters. In some embodiments, the indicia maycomprise an electronic serial number (ESN), an international mobileequipment identity number (IMEI), a number associated with a subscriberinformation module (SIM) card, or any other indicia that uniquelyidentifies the electronic device.

The indicia may be present on the device or packaging in human-readableand/or machine-readable format. For example, the indicia may be presentin text, a bar code (either a one-dimensional bar code (a series oflines), or a two-dimensional bar code (an encoded grid)), a magneticstripe, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, or any otherhuman-readable or machine-readable representation.

At S110 information needed to activate the device and/or open anecessary or associated account may be collected. This information mayinclude a unique indicia identifying the specific electronic devicepurchased by the customer, information identifying an associatedprovider of goods or services, payment or credit information of thecustomer, or identification information of the customer. Thisinformation may also include identification information of the POS,merchant, merchant location, or network over which the activationrequest is transmitted.

In some circumstances, desired information may be conveyed from thecustomer to the POS at S110. For example, a customer may purchase a newcommunication device at a POS, but desire that the new communicationdevice be assigned the same telephone number that the customerpreviously used. In this circumstance, along with the other informationsent at S110, desired identification information or access numbers maybe sent.

The unique indicia that identifies the electronic device may becollected in a manner consistent with the format in which the uniqueindicia is stored on the device or packaging. For example, if the uniqueindicia is stored as a bar code, this bar code may be scanned by a barcode reader at the POS. If the unique indicia is stored as a magneticstripe, this magnetic stripe by may be read by a magnetic stripe readerat the POS. If the unique indicia is stored on an RFID tag, the RFID tagmay be read by an RFID interrogator at the POS. If the unique indicia ishuman readable, this information may be entered into the POS by eitherthe customer or by a merchant employee.

Information identifying an associated provider of goods or services maybe located in a separate indicia on the electronic device or packaging,or may comprise an informative segment of the unique indicia identifyingthe electronic device. For example, a mobile telephone may be identifiedby the unique indicia VZ12345XYZ, in which the segment “VZ” may identifyan associated provider of goods or services.

Information regarding payment or credit information of the customer maycomprise a credit card account number, bank account number, or otherfinancial account number of the customer. This information may becollected, for example, by the customer swiping his or her credit card,debit card, or bank card at the POS or providing the identifyinginformation on the customer's credit card, debit card, or bank card tothe POS in another manner.

Information regarding payment may also comprise a confirmation thatpayment has been received. For example, verification of payment actuallyreceived (either in cash from the customer, approved by a credit cardcompany, or transferred and received from a bank or financial account)may be necessary before activation. In some circumstances, an electronicdevice may remain inactive after a customer has purchased the device ina purchase transaction until verification of the receipt of funds isconfirmed. If this verification is not received in a timely fashion, theelectronic device may be subsequently deactivated. Additionally, if anelectronic device is stolen or damaged, or is otherwise not eligible forsale to a customer, the database record corresponding to the electronicdevice to reflect that the electronic device has been “cancelled,” andmay not be permitted to be activated.

In some embodiments of the present invention, there may be an assumptionthat the purchase transaction of the electronic device will be properlycompleted. In this manner, an electronic device may be activated beforefunds have cleared, but the electronic device may be subsequentlydeactivated if the proper funds are not actually received.

Identification information of the customer may also be collected at thePOS. This information may comprise the customer's name and/or address.In some embodiments, all identification information may be collected atthe POS by the POS receiving some type of governmental identification ofthe customer. For example, the POS may receive—via a bar code reader ora magnetic stripe reader—a driver's license of the customer, or apassport of the customer. Alternatively, the customer's social securitynumber, date-of-birth, or other identifying information may be keyedinto the POS by the customer or by an employee of the merchant.

As noted above, in some embodiments of the present invention thecustomer may provide desired identification information for theelectronic device. For example, if the electronic device hascommunication capabilities (e.g., a mobile telephone), the customer mayprovide a desired access number, address, or telephone number. Asprepaid electronic devices become more ubiquitous, the ability to swapdevices while maintaining the same contact information for family,friends, colleagues, and other informational exchanges becomes moreimportant.

Identification information of the POS, merchant, merchant location, ornetwork over which the activation request may also be transmitted. Thisinformation may be used to verify that the requesting POS, terminal,merchant, or merchant location is authorized to activate the electronicdevice. Systems and methods for such verification may be found inco-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/655,828, filed on Sep. 5,2003 and published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No.20050051619, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.As used herein, identification information of the POS, merchant,merchant location or network means information sufficient to distinguisha particular POS, merchant, location or network from other POSs,merchants, locations or networks. Such identification information mayinclude, by way of example only, an electronic signature or a uniqueidentification code. The identification information may alternatively bea combination of terminal and location or retailer information. Forexample, a POS may have assigned to it an identification code that isunique only for a particular location or retailer, but when provided incombination with a location or retailer code, uniquely identifies thePOS. The identification information may be transmitted along with alltransaction requests.

Note that multiple identifiers may be input at the POS. For example, aUPC code may be input as well as an ESN, IMEI, SIM, or other identifier.The UPC may input for merchant inventory purposes, while the ESN orother indicia may be input for purposes of electronic device activation.

At S120, the information collected is sent to the party activating theelectronic device. This party may be a provider of goods or services(for example, a telecommunications carrier such as Verizon, or aprovider of digital content such as Apple), or a third party that mayassume the risk for improper or illegitimate activations. For example,an intermediate party may exist between a merchant and a provider ofgoods or services. This intermediate party may process the activations,and may shoulder the risk of improper or illegitimate activations. Inthis manner, the merchant may be encouraged to carry the electronicdevices since its liability is limited. Similarly, the provider may beencouraged to distribute associated electronic devices since itsliability is also limited. If the POS is a kiosk or vending machine, theparty controlling the kiosk or vending machine may receive theinformation collected at S110.

Note that the information collected in S110 may be sent to the partyactivating the electronic device in a variety of manners, for exampleover any network such as a telephone network, a credit or debit cardnetwork, the Internet, an intranet, a host-to-host network, and anyother type of communication network or connection.

As S130 information material to the electronic device may be sent to theelectronic device. For example, if the electronic device is a mobiletelephone, the assigned telephone number of the mobile telephone may besent to the mobile telephone. If the customer provided a specificallyrequested assigned telephone number, a confirmation or denial of therequest may be conveyed.

Other information material to the electronic device may include log-onor password information, access information, contact information, oridentification information. This information may also include, but isnot limited to information regarding an associated account needed by thedevice, for example in the case of a digital reader, account informationrelated to the Kindle, Nook, or iPad. This information may be sent tothe electronic device in any manner, including but not limited to via atelephone call, a short message system (SMS) or media message system(MMS) communication, an electronic mail message, an appletcommunication, a video file, or an audio file.

At S140, the electronic device is activated and ready for use. Theelectronic device may be activated for use by itself, or on a providernetwork. Additionally, the electronic device may be “activated” by thecreation or activation of an account associated with the electronicdevice. “Activating” the electronic device may comprise changing ormodifying the electronic device itself, a network (for example, so thatthe network recognizes the electronic device), or a provider of goods orservices (for example, so that the provider recognizes the electronicdevice).

In some embodiments, different functions may be activated at differenttimes. For instance, a wireless communication function may be activatedat one time, and an mp3 playing function may be activated at anothertime. Each activation may be enabled by a purchase associated with thatfunction. For instance, a user may purchase a communications device andthen activate the service, and the user may later purchase and activatethe mp3 player function of the device. Activation of all or part of thefunctions of a device may also be based on any of the following: thenumber of times a specific program or type of software has been loadedonto a device; the number of times the device (or a function of thedevice) has been used; the length of time a device has been used; thetime elapsed since purchase of the device; the amount of funds in anaccount associated with the device; the activity of an accountassociated with the device; the status of a user account (e.g., havingan account in good standing); the status of a user, e.g., with theactivation processor or other entity (or marital, employment, or otherstatus); personal information of the user; and other factors.

It should be noted that the electronic device may be inactive ordisabled prior to delivery to the customer. For instance, someelectronic devices may be hotlined or otherwise disabled at an internalswitch. It may be actively or passively disabled. In some embodiments,the merchant may disable the electronic device prior to purchase ormaking the electronic device available for sale. In some embodiments theelectronic device may be disabled before it is distributed to themerchant. Disabling of the media device may occur before it is offeredto the customer (e.g., before the product is placed on the store shelvesor otherwise offered to the customer).

In the manner outlined in FIG. 1, all information necessary to activatean electronic device purchased from a merchant may be collected in asingle step (S110), and information material to the electronic devicethat the customer needs, or should know, is provided in a single step(S130).

It should be noted that in various embodiments, different identifiersmay be used in the different blocks described herein, provided that thedifferent identifiers are associated with a single electronic device.I.e., it is not necessary that the ESN be the single identifier that isused throughout the process. For instance, a bar-coded number (e.g., anumber that is mapped to or otherwise associated with a media deviceidentifier in a database) may be scanned at the merchant terminal andpassed to a processor, but the processor may determine the indicia ofthe electronic device and use this indicia for later processing requestsand communications. Also, it should be appreciated that the terms“indicia” and “identifier” may comprise information associated with theindicia or identifier. In other words, an indicia or identifier receivedby a processor need not be the exact same as the indicia or identifierpassed from a POS to activate the electronic device, provided that thetwo identifiers are uniquely associated with the same electronic device.

With reference to FIG. 2, a method of activating an electronic devicefrom the perspective of a processor, in accordance with some embodimentsof the present invention, will now be discussed. FIG. 2 illustrates amethod 20, which comprises four (4) general steps: receiving an indiciaof the electronic device from a POS at S210; activating the electronicdevice at S230; sending to the electronic device material information atS250; and ending the transaction at S270. FIG. 2 also illustratesnumerous optional steps which may be included in the method 20.

Once the indicia identifying the electronic device is received from thePOS at S210, the processor may perform one or more of the steps S221—S227.

At S221, the processor may determine if the indicia received is valid,and represents an unactivated electronic device. The processor may makethis determination by referencing a database that comprises records foreach electronic device and indicia.

At S222, the processor may determine if the party requesting activation(e.g., the merchant or POS) is authorized to request activation of theelectronic device. The processor may make this determination byreferencing a database that comprises records for each electronic deviceand indicia, as well as information identifying authorized parties foractivation. Commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,578,439 entitled “Value CardPIN Security Method and Device” filed on Jun. 19, 2007 and issued onDec. 25, 2008 discloses systems and methods for verifying that the partyrequesting activation for a stored value card is authorized to sorequest. Similar systems and methods may be utilized. U.S. Pat. No.7,578,439 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Alternatively, at S222 the processor may determine if the partyrequesting activation is authorized to so request based on whether therequesting source and/or the communications network over which theactivation request was transmitted is considered trusted. The processormay make this determination by referencing a database that storesinformation identifying trusted sources and/or trusted communicationsnetworks for making activation requests. The processor may determine ifthe POS submitting an activation request is authorized to do so. Thisdetermination may be accomplished by determining whether the informationidentifying the POS, merchant, location or network in the requestmatches an authorized POS, merchant, location or network associated withthe electronic. The association between POS, merchant, location ornetwork and an electronic device may be established in a variety offorms including by storing the authorized identification information inthe device record itself in the database or by storing a link to aseparate record. The association may also include an indirect linkthrough a merchant or location identifier. As noted above, trustedsources may be identified by POS identifier, terminal identifier,merchant identifier, location identifier, via automatic numberidentification (ANI) processes, IP address, or other such identificationinformation.

At S223, the processor may receive all information necessary to activatethe electronic device. In some circumstances, in order to activate theelectronic device an account associated with the device may be requiredto be opened. In accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention, a customer purchasing the electronic device at the POS maysubmit requested identification information, such as a telephone number,to be assigned to the electronic device. This requested identificationinformation may be related to a previously owned electronic device ofthe customer (e.g., transferring a telephone number to a newly purchasedtelephone), or may be selected due to vanity or advertising concerns(e.g., 1-800-BUY-A-CAR).

At S224 the processor may receive an indication from the POS that avalid purchase transaction has been conducted. This indication mayinclude a confirmation that funds were actually received from thecustomer who purchased the electronic device. At times the electronicdevice may be given away—for example, in promotional contexts—and inwhich case the indication would not include a confirmation of valueexchange, but rather a confirmation that the a valid transaction hasoccurred.

At S225 the processor may determine a provider of goods or servicesassociated with the electronic device. As discussed above, thisdetermination may be based upon the unique indicia of the electronicdevice, or may be determined based upon the processor accessing adatabase entry of the electronic device which may list or teach theassociated provider. Alternatively, the electronic device may not bepre-associated with a specific provider, but rather the customer mayselect the specific provider at the POS during the purchase transaction.Accordingly, at S226 the processor may receive information sufficient toidentify the provider of goods or services selected by the customer tobe associated with the electronic device. In another variation, thecustomer may provide information at the POS regarding ideal oracceptable criteria for a provider or account, and based upon suchinformation the processor may determine the most appropriate providerand associate the most appropriate provider of goods or services withthe account. For example, in circumstances where the electronic deviceis a mobile telephone, the customer may provide information at the POSinforming the provider that the majority of anticipated calls on themobile telephone are international, and the customer does not use otherfeatures (e.g., texting, downloads, etc.). At S227 the processor maythen apply these criteria to characteristics of various providers andselect the provider of goods or services that best fits the customer'sneeds:

There may be numerous variations to S230, wherein the processoractivates the electronic device. S230 may comprise the processoraccessing the database record of the electronic device and modifying thestatus from “inactive” to “active.” Additional variations—though notall—are depicted in S241-S244.

In addition to—or in lieu of—activating the electronic device itself, atS241 the processor may activate a feature or a functionality of theelectronic device. For example, a user may bring a previously purchasedelectronic device to a POS and request a purchase of an additionalfunctionality of the electronic device. In one non-limiting example, auser may bring a previously purchased mobile telephone to a POS andrequest to purchase streaming video capability. An indicia of the mobiletelephone may be collected (as discussed above) and the requestedfunctionality of the mobile telephone may be activated. A more thoroughdiscussion of activation of a feature or functionality of a media devicemay be found in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/237,950, filed on Sep. 29, 2005 and published as U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 20060217996, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

At S242, the processor may send an activation notification to a providerof goods or services associated with the electronic device (thisprovider may be pre-associated in accordance with S225, or may bedetermined by the customer or the processor in accordance with S226 orS227, respectively).

At S243 the electronic device may be activated by opening or activatingan account associated with and/or needed by the electronic device.

At S244 the processor may reach into a database maintained by theprovider and modify a record related to the electronic device.

At S245 the processor may modify a record related to the electronicdevice in a database accessible by the provider (though not necessarilymaintained and/or resident on the provider's platform or systems).

At S250 the processor may send to the electronic device informationmaterial to the electronic device. As noted above, this materialinformation may include an assigned telephone number, log-on or passwordinformation, access information, contact information, identificationinformation, associated account information. This information may besent to the electronic device in any manner, including but not limitedto via a telephone call, a short message system (SMS) or media messagesystem (MMS) communication, an electronic mail message, an appletcommunication, a video file, or an audio file. Several variations oradditional steps are depicted by S261-S266.

At S261, the processor may additionally pass to the electronic device anactivation confirmation. At S262, the processor may pass to theelectronic device an assigned telephone number. At S263, the informationmay be information regarding identification of the electronic device orinformation related to an account associated with the device. At S264the information passed may be passed via SMS or MMS messaging. At S265the information may be passed via electronic mail, instant messaging, orsocial network (e.g., FaceBook, MySpace) messaging. At S266, theprocessor may pass the information to the electronic device by way ofthe POS and the customer. For example, information may be sent from theprocessor back to the POS and printed on a receipt or otherdocumentation for the customer.

At S270 the activation method may terminate and end.

It will be understood that in order to practice the methods of theinvention as described above, it is not necessary that the processorsand/or the memories of the processing machine be physically located inthe same geographical place. That is, each of the processors and thememories used in the invention may be located in geographically distinctlocations and connected so as to communicate in any suitable manner.Additionally, It will be understood that each of the processor and/orthe memory may be composed of different physical pieces of equipment.Accordingly, it is not necessary that a processor be one single piece ofequipment in one location and that the memory be another single piece ofequipment in another location. That is, it is contemplated that theprocessor may be two pieces of equipment in two different physicallocations The two distinct pieces of equipment may be connected in anysuitable manner. Additionally, the memory may include two or moreportions of memory in two or more physical locations.

To explain further, processing as described above is performed byvarious components and various memories. It will be understood, however,that the processing performed by two distinct components as describedabove may, in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, beperformed by a single component. Further, the processing performed byone distinct component as described above may be performed by twodistinct components. In a similar manner, the memory storage performedby two distinct memory portions as described above may, in accordancewith a further embodiment of the invention, be performed by a singlememory portion. Further, the memory storage performed by one distinctmemory portion as described above may be performed by two memoryportions.

Further, various technologies may be used to provide communicationbetween the various processors and/or memories, as well as to allow theprocessors and/or the memories of the invention to communicate with anyother entity, i.e., so as to obtain further instructions or to accessand use remote memory stores, for example. Such technologies used toprovide such communication might include a network, the Internet,Intranet, Extranet, LAN, an Ethernet, a telecommunications network(e.g., a cellular or wireless network) or any client server system thatprovides communication, for example. Such communications technologiesmay use any suitable protocol such as TCP/IP, UDP, or OSI, for example.

With reference to FIG. 3, a method 30 of activating an electronic devicein accordance with some embodiments of the present invention will not bediscussed. FIG. 3 indicates which party—a customer 301, a POS 302, acentral processor 303, and a provider of goods or services 304 —performseach step in the overall process.

At S305 the process begins with the customer 301 selecting andpresenting to a POS the selected electronic device. S305 may also beconstrued to cover the presentment of a previously purchased electronicdevice at a POS in order to activate an additional feature orfunctionality of the electronic device. S305 may also be construed tocover POS variations such as on-line shopping where the customer selectsan electronic device for purchase, or kiosks or vending machines wherethe electronic devices are effectively enclosed in the POS itself.

At S310, the POS at the merchant location collects, reads, or captures aunique indicia identifying the electronic device (or the desiredadditional functionality or feature of the electronic device). At S315,the POS 302 sends the captured indicia to the central processor 303. Asnoted above, the POS 302 may also capture additional information, suchas payment information, credit information, or customer identificationinformation. POS 302 may pass this information to central processor 303as well.

At S320, the central processor 303 may receive the indicia (andpotentially other information) from the POS, and at S325 the centralprocessor may determine if the indicia is valid, and identifies anunactivated electronic device (or feature or functionality of theelectronic device). If the determination is positive, at S330 thecentral processor 303 may activate the electronic device by sending acommunication to a provider of goods or services 304. For example, atS330 the central processor 303 may send a communication that modifies adatabase record at the provider's platform (for example, through anapplication programming interface (API) of the provider), may sendinstructions for the provider 304 to modify its database record, or maymodify a database record accessible by the provider 304.

At S335 the provider 304 may partake in the activation communication,and may identify the specific electronic device activated. Note thatinformation identifying the electronic device may not be consistentthroughout the process steps. For example, the electronic device may beidentified by indicia “VZ12345XYZ” at the POS. However, this indicia maybe specific to the central processor. The provider may identify theelectronic device by “12345XYZ” or even “ZYXWVUT,” and it may be thissecond identifier passed from the central processor to the provider. Inother words, the specific indicia or identifier is not as relevant asspecifically identifying the electronic device.

At S340, the provider 304 may determine information material to theelectronic device, for example an assigned telephone number of a mobiletelephone. At S345 the provider 304 may send information material to theelectronic device to the central processor 303. Alternatively, thisinformation may be sent directly from the provider 304 to the electronicdevice. At S350, the central processor 303 may receive the materialinformation. At S355 the central processor 303 may pass an activationconfirmation to the POS 302, and at S360 the central processor 303 maypass the material information to the electronic device.

At S365 the POS 302 may receive the activation confirmation from thecentral processor 303, and at S370 the POS may pass on such confirmationto the customer 301, and may allow the customer 301 to take custody ofthe electronic device. At S375 the customer 301 may receive theinformation material to the electronic device (for example, by receivingan SMS, MMS, electronic mail, or instant message on the electronicdevice itself. At S380 the activation process terminates.

With reference to FIG. 4, an overall system 40 used to activate anelectronic device at a POS in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent invention is depicted. The system 40 generally comprises a POS410, one or more providers of goods or services 420 a . . . 420 n, anelectronic device 430, and a processor 440. While the POS 410 isdepicted as a POS terminal, the POS may take the form of any type of POSdevice, location, merchant, or computer. Similarly, while providers ofgoods or services 420 a . . . 420 n are depicted identically, eachprovider 420 may provide different goods or services. For example,provider 420 a may provide telecommunication services, provider 420 bmay provide cable television, provider 420 c may provide digital radioservices, and provider 420 d may provide various periodicals forelectronic readers. Similarly, while electronic device 430 is depictedas a mobile communications device (telephone or PDA), electronic device430 may take any format, including electronic readers, video or audioplayers, cameras, etc.

As described above, the present invention may illustratively be embodiedin the form of a processing machine, including a computer or computersystem, for example, that includes at least one memory. It is to beappreciated that the set of instructions, i.e., the software forexample, that enables the computer operating system to perform theoperations described above may be contained on any of a wide variety ofmedia or medium, as desired. Further, the data that is processed by theset of instructions might also be contained on any of a wide variety ofmedia or medium. That is, the particular medium, i.e., the memory in theprocessing machine, utilized to hold the set of instructions and/or thedata used in the invention may take on any of a variety of physicalforms or transmissions, for example. Illustratively, the medium may bein the form of paper, paper transparencies, a compact disk, a magneticstripe, a laser card, a smart card, a processor chip, a memory chip, aDVD, an integrated circuit, a hard disk, a floppy disk, an optical disk,a flash memory card, a magnetic tape, a RAM, a ROM, a PROM, a EPROM, awire, a cable, a fiber, communications channel, a satellitetransmissions or other remote transmission, as well as any other mediumor source of data that may be read by the processors of the invention.

Further, the memory or memories used in the processing machine thatimplements the invention may be in any of a wide variety of forms toallow the memory to hold instructions, data, or other information, as isdesired. Thus, the memory might be in the form of a database to holddata. The database might use any desired arrangement of files such as aflat file arrangement or a relational database arrangement, for example.

With reference to FIG. 5, a processor 500 may comprise a POScommunication interface 510 for selective communication with one or morePOS devices, a provider communication interface 520 for selectivecommunication with one or more providers of goods or services, anelectronic device communication interface 530 for selectivecommunication with one or more electronic devices, an activationprocessor 540, and a database 550. Processor 500 may also include a userdatabase or access to a publicly available database of user information560.

The POS communication interface 510 may handle all incoming and outboundcommunications with various POS devices, locations, or merchants. Insome embodiments, the POS communication interface 510 may take the formof an interface on a host-to-host network. Because each POS may havedifferent requirements or system characteristics, POS communicationinterface 510 may collectively identify a plurality of interfaces withdifferent POSs.

The provider communication interface 520 may handle all incoming andoutbound communications with the one or more providers of goods orservices. Because each provider 420 may have different systemrequirements (e.g., different APIs), the provider communicationinterface 520 may collectively identify a plurality of interfaces withdifferent providers.

The electronic device communication interface 530 may handle allincoming and outbound communications with the one or more electronicdevices. Because each electronic device 430 may have different systemrequirements (e.g., a mobile telephone may be SMS capable, a PDA mayrequire an electronic mail communication), electronic devicecommunication interface may collectively identify a plurality ofinterfaces with different electronic devices.

Activation processor 540 performs the various determinations necessaryto activate an electronic device. Activation processor 540 may becoupled to database 550 and may therefore be able to determine if areceived electronic device indicia is valid and unactivated. Theactivation processor 540 may be able to determine any preassociatedproviders of goods or service, or may receive a selection from thecustomer or may make a selection based on customer criteria andinformation. The activation processor 540 may postpone activation untilfunds are confirmed, or may deactivate the electronic device (by way ofelectronic device communication interface 530) if funds are later deemedinadequate. The activation processor may collect (by way of the POScommunication interface) additional information required to activate theelectronic device.

Database 550 may include information identifying each electronic deviceand its relevant details. Database 550 is depicted in greater detail inFIG. 6, and is discussed in greater detail below.

User database or access to a publicly available database of userinformation 560 is an optional aspect of processor 50. At times customeridentification information may be needed to activate an electronicdevice. As discussed above, this information may be provided by way ofscanning or reading a customer's drivers license or passport, orentering the customer social security number. Based upon a customer'sdrivers license number, passport number, or social security number, theprocessor 50 may access a publicly available database to provideadditional information, such as name, address, date of birth, etc.

FIG. 6 depicts exemplary records from a database 60 coupled to theprocessor. Database 60 includes records 650-654, with information suchas electronic device indicia 610, device information 620, which POS areauthorized to activate 630, and which provider is associated with theelectronic device 640.

For example, record 650 shows an electronic device “A” identified byindicia “12345” which may be activated by POS terminal A, and which ispre-associated with provider X. Record 651 shows electronic device “B”identified by indicia “9876” which may be activated by merchant ψ (andtherefore, any POS devices that are operated by merchant ψ), and whichis pre-associated with provider Y. Record 652 shows electronic device“C” identified by indicia “A1B2C3” which may be activated by location β(and therefore, any merchants and POS devices that are present atlocation β), and with provider Z. Record 653 shows electronic device “D”identified by indicia “XYZ005” which may be activated by POS devices A,B, C, or D, and for which the provider is selectable. Finally, Record654 shows electronic device “E” identified by indicia “007SNS” which maybe activate by merchants A, D, or Z (for example, merchants under onecorporate umbrella such as Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic), and forwhich the provider is selectable. These records may be automaticallypropagated using an API, or may be manually entered by an administratoror by a merchant via an interface available over the Internet.

FIG. 7 illustrates a representation of a merchant-location-terminalhierarchy 70 that may be incorporated into some embodiments of thepresent invention. FIG. 7 shows a level 1 merchant 710, under which aretwo (2) level two merchants 720A and 720B, under which are three (3)level three merchants 730A-730C. Continuing down the hierarchy, underthe level three merchants are locations 740A-740F, under which are POS750A-750N.

Any level of the hierarchy may be authorized to request activation of anelectronic device. For example only specific POS may be authorized, forexample only POS 750A or POS 750A-B. Or locations may be authorized,such as location 740D and 740E, which in turn comprise POS 750H-N.Merchants may be authorized, such as level three merchant 730A, which inturn comprises locations 740A-B, and POS 750B-G. Any authorized point inthe hierarchy may authorize the merchants, locations, or POS fallingbeneath it. If level one merchant 710 is authorized, then all level 2merchant, level 3 merchants, locations, and POS beneath level onemerchant 710 may be considered authorized.

It will be understood that the specific embodiments of the presentinvention shown and described herein are exemplary only. Numerousvariations, changes, substitutions and equivalents will now occur tothose skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Accordingly, it is intended that all subject matterdescribed herein and shown in the accompanying drawings be regarded asillustrative only, and not in a limiting sense, and that the scope ofthe invention will be solely determined by the appended claims.

1. A method of activating an electronic device at a point-of-sale, theelectronic device identified by a unique indicia and the activationoccurring following a purchase of the electronic device in a purchasetransaction, the method comprising: receiving at a central processorfrom the point-of-sale the indicia identifying the electronic devicepurchased at the point-of-sale; enabling, by the central processor, afeature of the electronic device, a functionality of the electronicdevice, or use of the electronic device; conveying, from the centralprocessor to the electronic device: an activation confirmation; andinformation material to the feature, functionality, or use of theelectronic device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronicdevice is a mobile communications device.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the point-of-sale is a merchant terminal at a merchant location.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the point-of-sale is a kiosk orvending machine.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the feature,functionality, or use of the electronic device is enabled by the centralprocessor by: determining if the indicia is valid; flagging theelectronic device as active in a database coupled to the centralprocessor.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: communicatingthe activation of the electronic device with a provider of goods orservices that supports the electronic device.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the step of communicating the activation comprises sending anactivation message to the provider of goods or services.
 8. The methodof claim 6, wherein the step of communicating the activation comprisesreaching into a database associated with the provider of goods orservices and changing the status of the electronic device.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a mobile communicationsdevice, and wherein the information material to the mobilecommunications device is the telephone number of the mobilecommunications device.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein theinformation material to the mobile communications device is conveyed tothe mobile communications device via a manner selected from the groupconsisting of: a short message communication (SMS), a multi-mediamessage (MMS), an electronic mail message, or an applet communication.11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: receiving,at the central processor from the point-of-sale, user informationspecific to a user or purchaser of the electronic device.
 12. The methodof claim 11, wherein the user information comprises informationsufficient to identify the user or purchaser of the electronic device.13. The method of claim 12, wherein the information sufficient toidentify the user or purchaser of the electronic device comprisesinformation selected from the group consisting of: drivers licenseinformation, passport information, social security number information,or date-of-birth information.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein theinformation comprises drivers license information, and wherein thedrivers license information is entered into the point-of-sale by readinga machine readable marking on the drivers license of the user orpurchaser of the electronic device.
 15. The method of claim 11, whereinthe user information comprises a telephone number the user is requestingbe assigned to the electronic device.
 16. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the steps of: before the enabling step, receiving from thepoint-of-sale confirmation that the purchase transaction of theelectronic device is complete.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein theconfirmation comprises information confirming that funds required topurchase the electronic device have been transferred from a buyer of theelectronic device to a seller of the electronic device.
 18. A method ofactivating an electronic device at a point-of-sale, the electronicdevice identified by a unique indicia and the activation occurringfollowing a purchase of the electronic device in a purchase transaction,the method facilitated between a point-of-sale, a central processor, anda provider of goods or services, the method comprising: receiving at acentral processor from the point-of-sale the indicia identifying theelectronic device purchased at the point-of-sale and informationsufficient to identify the point-of-sale; determining, by the centralprocessor: whether the indicia is valid and identifies an non-activatedelectronic device; whether the point-of-sale is authorized to requestactivation of the electronic device; upon a positive determination thatthe indicia is valid and the point-of-sale is authorized, communicatingwith the provider in order to enable a feature of the electronic device,a functionality of the electronic device, or use of the electronicdevice; conveying to the electronic device: an activation confirmation;and information material to the feature, functionality, or use of theelectronic device.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step ofcommunicating with the provider comprises sending a communication to theprovider from the central processor identifying the electronic device.20. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of communicating with theprovider comprises the central processor reaching into a databaseassociated with the provider and modifying a status indicator of theelectronic device.
 21. The method of claim 18, wherein the step ofcommunicating with the provider comprises maintaining, by the centralprocessor, a database in which the electronic device is designated asactive, and wherein the provider has access to the database.
 22. Themethod of claim 18, wherein the electronic device is a mobilecommunications device, and wherein the information material to themobile communications device comprises a telephone number of the mobilecommunications device.
 23. The method of claim 18, wherein theelectronic device is a media device, and wherein the informationmaterial to the media device comprises account information with theprovider of goods or services.
 24. The method of claim 18, wherein theindicia of the electronic device is entered into the point-of-sale by amanner selected from the group consisting of: reading a magnetic stripeon the electronic device or its packaging, reading a bar code on theelectronic device or its packaging, radio frequency identification(RFID) communications between the point-of-sale and the electronicdevice or its packaging, or manually entering into the point-of-sale theindicia.
 25. The method of claim 18, wherein the information material tothe electronic device is conveyed to the electronic device via a mannerselected from the group consisting of: a short message communication(SMS), a multi-media message (MMS), an electronic mail message, or anapplet communication.
 26. A method of activating a mobile communicationsdevice at a point-of-sale, the mobile communications device identifiedby a unique indicia and the activation occurring following a purchase ofthe mobile communications device in a purchase transaction, the methodfacilitated between a point-of-sale, a central processor, and a providerof goods or services, the method comprising: receiving at a centralprocessor from the point-of-sale the indicia identifying the mobilecommunications device purchased at the point-of-sale; communicating withthe provider in order to activate the mobile communications device;following activation of the mobile communications device, conveying tothe electronic device a telephone number of the electroniccommunications device.
 27. A central processor for activating anelectronic device at a point-of-sale, the electronic device identifiedby a unique indicia and the activation occurring following a purchase ofthe electronic device from at the point-of-sale, the central processorcomprising: a point-of-sale communication interface that providesselectable communication between the central processor and thepoint-of-sale, the point-of-sale interface configured to receive fromthe point-of-sale: the indicia identifying the electronic device; andinformation sufficient to identify the point-of-sale; a providercommunication interface that provides selectable communication betweenthe central processor and the provider of goods or services, theprovider interface configured to transact communication with theprovider regarding a status of the electronic device; a electronicdevice communication interface that provides selectable communicationbetween the central processor and the electronic device, the electronicdevice interface configured to send to the electronic device, followingactivation of the electronic device, information material to theelectronic device; a database comprising a record for each electronicdevice, the record comprising: the indicia identifying the electronicdevice; a status of the electronic device; information sufficient toidentify any point-of-sales that are authorized to request activation ofthe electronic device; and information sufficient to identify theprovider associated with the electronic device; and an activationprocessor configured to: determine whether the indicia is valid andidentifies an electronic device with an inactive status; determinewhether the point-of-sale sending the activation request is authorizedto request activation of the electronic device; determine the providerassociated with the electronic device and enable communication with theprovider regarding the status of the electronic device; convey to theelectronic device information material to a feature, functionality, oruse of the electronic device.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein thestatus of the electronic device in the database is active or inactive.29. The system of claim 27, wherein the information sufficient toidentify the point-of-sale comprises a terminal identifier.
 30. Thesystem of claim 27, wherein the information sufficient to identify thepoint-of-sale comprises information sufficient to identify a merchantlocation.
 31. The system of claim 27, wherein the information sufficientto identify the point-of-sale comprises information regarding thenetwork over which the activation request from the point-of-sale wastransmitted.
 32. The system of claim 27, wherein the determination ofwhether the point-of-sale sending the activation request is authorizedto request activation of the electronic device comprises: comparing theinformation sufficient to identify the point-of-sale with point-of-sale,merchant location, or network information previously stored in thedatabase.
 33. The system of claim 27, wherein the activation processorenabling communication with the provider regarding the status of theelectronic device comprises sending a communication from the centralprocessor to the provider identifying the electronic device.
 34. Thesystem of claim 27, wherein the activation processor enablingcommunication with the provider regarding the status of the electronicdevice comprises the central processor reaching into a databaseassociated with the provider and modifying a status indicator of theelectronic device.
 35. The system of claim 27, wherein the activationprocessor enabling communication with the provider regarding the statusof the electronic device comprises the central processor maintaining, inthe database, a record in which the electronic device is designated asactive, and wherein the provider has access to the database.
 36. Thesystem of claim 27, wherein the activation processor conveys to theelectronic device information material to a feature, functionality, oruse of the electronic device via a manner selected from the groupconsisting of: a short message communication (SMS), a multi-mediamessage (MMS), an electronic mail message, or an applet communication.37. The system of claim 36, wherein the information material to afeature, functionality, or use of the electronic device comprises atelephone number of the electronic device.